19
FOLK ARTS
IN NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOLS
M*rg«reL Merlin. education Specialist
Office of Folk life I’tormijk
Department of Cultural Resources
Raleigh
All the kids moved in a little closer to hear Jack's reply.- "Why,
the moon hasn't fallen down, you old fool, that's just its reflec¬
tion in this little pond!" The storyteller, Frank Proffitt, pauses for
effect before telling the rest of "Jack and the Three Sillies." His
memory of the tale never falters, for he hoard Jack tales many
times when he was a boy growing up in the mountains of North
Carolina. Back then some grownups would promise to tell a tale as
a reward for good behavior or finished chores. The kids that Frank
is entertaining nowadays could be his young sons and their
friends — or they could be a classroom of students learning the
tales and legends of North Carolina.
Frank Proffitt is one of the performers in the "Folk Arts in
North Carolina Schools" program. He brings the folk tales, banjo
and dulcimer tunes, and ballads of his Appalachia community in
public schools, giving students and teachers an enjoyable, as well
as an instructive, exposure to some of the traditional arts that
make up our state's cultural heritage.
"Folk Arts in North Carolina Schools" is a part of your Office
of Folklife Programs within the Department of Cultural Re¬
sources. The program introduces students to some of the finest
Tar Heel folk artists: fiddlers, quilters, ballad singers, potters,
Biuesmen. Entertainers who bluesmen, basket makers, storytellers, weavers, flatfoot dancers,
sing slow, melancholy songs and gospel singers. Many of these North Carolinians have parti-
with jazz rhythm cipated in the American Dance Festival, the Smithsonian Institu¬
tion's Festival of American Folklife, and the North Carolina Folk-
life Festival.
These folk artists play a crucial role in the transmission of
North Carolina's traditions. In many highly populated areas, arts
and crafts have been lost that were handed down by generations,
yet there are people in our slate who still make fish baskets for
river fishing, clay jugs for storing pickles, and fiddle music for
Celebrating good times. From the Sandhills to the Blue Ridge, tra¬
ditional arts are an important source of regional identity and pro¬
vide our link to the wisdom of past generations.
With support from the National Endowment for the Arts,
"Folk Arts in North Carolina Schools" brings this heritage to
thousands of students. They have a chance to experience first¬
hand the sound of a blues guitarist or the sight of a fourth-genera¬
tion potter making a jug.
In addition to performing, participants talk about themselves
and their work. The program coordinator helps direct discussion
